How to increase your Leadership by Two-Fold
August 10th 2017 was a great day of learning for myself and roughly 450,000 other leaders throughout the world. The Global Leadership Summit is the largest leadership conference in the world, so with much anticipation I sat eager to learn.
In the past, I have experienced some really profound learnings at this conference, but the one I am about to explain led to one of those “Aha Moments”. The opening conference session was from Bill Hybels, the founder of the Summit. The second session was the one that rocked me. It was an interview between Bill and Sheryl Sandberg, the COO of Facebook.
A little history on Sheryl: she was formerly VP of Sales and Operations for Google, she was Chief of Staff for the United States Secretary of Treasury, and in 2013 she was named on the Time 100 list as one of the most influential people in the world.
With this caliber of resume, how could one not want to learn everything possible from Sheryl? So here it is; this is what she said that was so profound; it still has me working to make changes.
Sheryl’s profound statement
“If we learn to lean in and understand how to work with women better, we will be able to work with the other half of the population better.”
Sometimes the simplest of concepts are the most profound, as noted by the great artist Leonardo Da Vinci, “simplicity is the ultimate sophistication”.
In effect, men in leadership can learn to maximize their leadership by two-fold if they will focus on learning the strengths, values and motivations of the other half of the population. Sheryl mentioned a staggering statistic. She stated that women hold 5% of the top positions at fortune 500 companies.
Shortly after Sheryl’s book Lean In launched, she began to pull groups of women together in what her foundation, Leanin.org, calls leanin circles. The goal of her foundation is for women to “talk openly about their ambitions and encourage each other to take on new challenges”.
After Sheryl’s talk, I began to ask the question, how can I apply her leadership to our organization, VEL Institute. I asked these questions: are we missing half of our potential by not actively pursuing women to be a part of our leadership and growth in the future? If so, how can we change this and drastically change the way we lead and teach leadership and entrepreneurship?
Since the conference, VEL Institute has focused on recruiting women to be a part of our development programs. Before the start of our last Integrated Leaders Program, we were successful in recruiting female leaders who were full of courage and wisdom. They brought fresh perspectives to the program. They brought new insights and passion, and they taught us that leadership and human potential is not homogeneous.
I would be remiss if I did not share more about another incredible female leader that I have had the opportunity to learn from. Her name is Brené Brown. She is an innovator, leader and researcher who specializes in studying vulnerability, empathy, shame and courage. In 2010 at her TED talk, which has now been viewed by over 30 million people, she revealed to the world her research and insights on vulnerability. Because of her passion, many have begun to understand the power of vulnerability and courage.
Brené is one more example of a generation of female thought leaders who are challenging the world on status quo leadership. She has made a huge impact in education, psychology and business because of her passion, and courage. Brené founded Brave Leaders Inc., an initiative to teach courageous leadership. In 2016, the Huffington Foundation honored Brown by pledging $2 million over four years to fund the Brené Brown Endowed Chair in the Graduate College of Social Work at the University of Houston.
Both Sheryl Sandberg and Brené Brown are innovators, educators and transformational leaders. In 2018, VEL Institute will be implementing Brené’s book Daring Greatly into its flagship course, the Integrated Leaders Program. We hope to learn much from Brené and encourage female leaders to consider being a part of the collaborative learning environment that VEL Institute offers.
The bottom line for leaders today
We have the opportunity to increase our leadership by two-fold if we will learn to intentionally lead and be lead by female leaders today. Why? Because, they bring incredible potential and diversity in strengths to all fronts of life. For our female leaders, your time is now. Learn from incredible leaders like Sheryl and Brené and then develop your own leadership capacity so that you can make this world a better place. Parents, teach your daughters to be bold and courageous; look them in the eye and let them know they can accomplish greatness in life.
One final note on this topic. After hearing Sheryl’s talk, I asked myself a few reflection questions to assess if I was effectively leading and being led by the other half of the population. Both men and women leaders will be challenged if they will ask themselves these questions, and then act on the answers.
- How many thought leaders from the opposite sex do I intentionally learn from?
- How many books in my library are authored by the opposite sex?
- Am I currently investing in or mentoring future leaders of the opposite sex?
- Am I actively seeking to engage leaders of the opposite sex in the organizations and teams that I lead?
These questions will help you assess whether you can increase your leadership by two-fold.
To view the list of some of business’s greatest female leaders today, view the Fortune list here.
Follow Sheryl Sandberg on Facebook and Brené Brown on Twitter @BrenéBrown
Insight written by Terry Weaver, Founder of VEL Institute.
Connect with Terry: facebook or linkedIn